Reports to Spring Conference 2010 Birmingham

Contents Page

FEDERAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE 2

FEDERAL POLICY COMMITTEE 6

FEDERAL EXECUTIVE 10

FEDERAL FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE 13

PARLIAMENTARY PARTY (COMMONS) 19

PARLIAMENTARY PARTY (LORDS) 22

PARLIAMENTARY PARTY (EUROPE) 26

CAMPAIGN FOR GENDER BALANCE 27

DIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT GROUP 29

APPROVAL & SELECTION DIVERSITY UPDATE 31

1 Federal Conference Committee

The Federal Conference Committee is responsible for organising the two Federal conferences each year. This includes choosing the agenda from amongst the policy and business motions submitted by conference reps, local, regional and state parties, specified associated organisations and Federal committees, and also taking decisions on topics such as venues, registration rates and other administrative and organisational matters. It works within a budget set by the FFAC.

The FCC has 21 voting members: the Party President; the Chief Whip (or substitute); three state party reps; two reps from the FE and two from the FPC; and twelve members directly elected by conference reps. It elects its own chair (currently Duncan Brack), who must be one of the directly elected reps.

Feedback from conference reps Federal Conference Committee always takes conference-goers’ feedback seriously, devoting our first post-conference meeting to a debrief session. Last autumn we trialled replacing the old paper questionnaire with an online version. This was very successful, with almost 500 respondents. We will use this greener online tool at all conferences from now on, so please take the time to give us your feedback. All registered members will be emailed a link to the questionnaire in the week following conference. A summary of the feedback from the Bournemouth conference is available on the party website ( www.libdems.org.uk/conference_report_2009.aspx ), together with some of the changes we will be making in response. Unlike Bournemouth, however, the Birmingham conference will follow the normal spring conference pattern, with no innovations, except for …

Ask FCC for help! … an FCC helpdesk, where FCC members will be available to answer any questions you might have about conference procedures such as advice on filling in speaker’s cards, submitting motions to future conferences, and so on. The helpdesk will be open from 08.30 to 12.30 on the Saturday morning of conference, and can be found next to the Information Desk. I hope you make use of it.

Agenda We received a fairly high number of motions submitted by local parties and conference reps, and their average quality continues to improve, a trend which we have seen for over a year now. More people are using our drafting advisory service, and we do encourage everyone to make use of this in the future. As usual for a conference immediately preceding a general election, we will of course be using the bulk of the time we have available for motions from the FPC, organised around the main themes in the manifesto, but we have still been able to include a few motions from other sources. Many of the motions we were not able to take would make good topics for debate at the autumn conference, when we will have much less business submitted by the FPC, and we hope that the proposers will resubmit them. As well as the motions and set-piece speeches, we are including a Q&A session with the party leader, for the first time at a spring conference. As you can see in the Agenda, we will be using a slightly different format this time. The initial questions still need to be submitted on

2 question cards, and they will be asked from the intervention mikes, but then if anyone sitting in the audience wants to ask a supplementary question, they should simply put their hand up, and Nick will call as many of them as we have time for – a hand-held mike will be passed to them. Anyone thinking they might want to ask a supplementary question should sit in the lower tier in the auditorium.

Conference rally The conference rally, ‘Building a Fairer Britain’, will take place on Friday 12 March, between 18.30 and 19.30, in the main auditorium. It will feature Nick Clegg, , Shirley Williams, Tim Farron and several of the party’s target seat candidates, and it will be compered by . I hope to see you all there!

Future venues We are pleased to be visiting two new venues this year – Birmingham in the spring, and Liverpool in the autumn (a new venue for an autumn conference for us). We always consider a wide range of conference centres for hosting future Liberal Democrat conferences. The current size of the conference and the scale of public interest it draws make it an attractive event for many towns and cities to host, but also restricts the number of venues with adequate facilities. The venues for the spring and autumn 2011 conferences are now almost finalised, and I will be able to announce them during my report at the Birmingham conference; full details will be published on the party website shortly afterwards.

Access The Conference Access Group, convened by Robert Adamson, continues to make conference as accessible for all as possible, expanding its work to tackle obstacles facing those with a broader range of disabilities. If you are interested in the work of the Group, please feel free to contact Robert on [email protected].

Stewards and security As always, conference can only take place due to the massive contribution and efforts of the volunteer stewards’ team, who handle security, look after the exhibition, fringe, information desk, stage and auditorium, and ensure that we all get the most out of conference. We are grateful, as always, to our Chief Steward, Adrian Beavis, and his deputy, Mike Ross, and all their colleagues in the stewards’ team. Due to the high profile of the Liberal Democrat conference, some security checks are necessary – though we aim to keep these to a minimum – and our stewards will be supported by SIA-qualified security contractors in this task. Please see the relevant section in the Directory for the procedures.

Federal Conference Committee FCC members are here to help you make the most of conference – do feel free to ask us any questions you may have relating to the agenda and how to speak in debates. You can identify us by the larger badges we wear, with ‘FCC’ prominently displayed; there are also pictures of us (to varying degrees of flattery) on page 2 of the Agenda – and, as above, you will be able to find us at the FCC helpdesk on the Saturday morning of conference. FCC members are also assigned to the state and English regional parties, and SAOs, to liaise with them during the year, provide advice and assistance on submitting motions or

3 otherwise getting involved in conference, and appear at particular conferences to answer your questions. See the contact details at the end of this report, and don’t hesitate to get in touch with the relevant FCC member.

Thanks The vast bulk of the hard work of organising conference throughout the year of course falls on the full-time staff in Conference Office in Cowley Street: Lucy Billingsley, Carol Caruana, Sian Jenkins and Emma Price. This year the team has also been supported by Sonia Goodland whose help has been invaluable. Those of us on FCC who have been around for a while are of the view that our current Conference Office is the most competent and professional team the party has ever had. I would also like to express my warmest thanks to all the others who make conference possible: to all my colleagues on the Conference Committee; to Ben Stoneham, HQ Director in Cowley Street; to the Policy Projects Team, led by Christian Moon, who process the motions and prepare much of the agenda material; and of course to the stewards’ team. I look forward to seeing you in Birmingham.

Duncan Brack Chair, Federal Conference Committee

State/Region FCC liaison

England Geoff Payne; [email protected]

Scotland Jenni Lang; [email protected]

Wales Ian Walton; [email protected]

Devon & Tessa Munt; [email protected] Justine McGuinness; [email protected]

East of Susan Gaszczak; [email protected]

East Midlands Arnie Gibbons; [email protected]

London ; [email protected]

North East Robert Adamson; [email protected] Qassim Afzal; [email protected] North West

South Central Andrew Wiseman; [email protected]

South East Ruth Polling; [email protected]

4 Western Counties Tessa Munt; [email protected] Justine McGuinness; [email protected] West Midlands James Gurling; [email protected]

Yorkshire & the Humber Duncan Brack; [email protected]

SAO FCC liaison

Agents and Organisers James Gurling; [email protected]

ALDC Arnie Gibbons; [email protected]

ALDES Jeremy Hargreaves; [email protected]

DELGA Susan Gaszczak; [email protected]

EMLD Qassim Afzal; [email protected]

Liberal Youth Jon Ball; [email protected]

Lib Dem Lawyers Geoff Payne; [email protected]

PCA Justine McGuinness; [email protected]

WLD Dee Doocey; [email protected]

5 Federal Policy Committee

The Federal Policy Committee is responsible for researching and developing policy and overseeing the Federal Party’s policy-making process. This includes producing policy papers for debate at conference, and drawing up (in consultation with the relevant parliamentary party) the Federal election manifestos for Westminster and European elections. The FPC has 29 voting members: the Party Leader, four other MPs, the Party President, one peer, one MEP, three councillors, three state party reps and fifteen members directly elected by conference reps. It must be chaired by one of the five MP members and is currently chaired by the Leader.

The General Election Manifesto The Manifesto Group is chaired by Danny Alexander MP, and the other members are: myself as Chair of FPC, Dr Richard Grayson (Vice Chair, FPC), Jeremy Hargreaves (Vice Chair, FPC), Steve Webb MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions), MP (Shadow Chancellor), Willie Rennie MP (Chair of Campaigns and Communications), David Laws MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families) and Susan Kramer MP. Starting from the overall principles and the priorities set out in the pre-manifesto A Fresh Start for Britain which was adopted by the Bournemouth Conference, the Manifesto Group and the FPC have been working to develop the General Election Manifesto. We have agreed that the overarching theme of the manifesto will be fairness, and set out four key policy areas to deliver it: Fair Taxes, A Fair Start in Life, A Fair and Sustainable Economy, and Fair, Transparent and Responsive Politics. Four motions spelling out these policy priorities have been submitted for debate at Birmingham.

Policy Development Since the Autumn Conference, a policy paper on Youth has been produced and is presented for debate at Birmingham. The working group plans to do further work on the specific area of youth justice and to bring forward further proposals to the Autumn Conference. Policy working groups, supported by the Policy and Research Unit (PRU), have also drafted consultation papers on International Development and Localism. There will be consultation sessions to discuss these on the afternoon of Friday 12th March 2010 in Birmingham. These groups will proceed to develop their ideas and will present their final conclusions in a policy paper for debate at the Autumn 2010 party conference, taking into account the outcome of the consultation sessions and other input from both within and outside the party. The Quality of Life Working Group was originally scheduled to report to the Autumn 2010 conference but will now report to Autumn 2011 instead. A policy working group has been established on the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering. It will bring a consultation paper to the next conference and its full policy paper to the Spring 2011 conference. The FPC has taken the decision to commission a policy paper on the subject of Inequality & Social Exclusion for the Autumn 2011 conference. The policy working group for this paper has not yet been set up as they will not start work until after the general election.

6 All currently active policy working groups have now set up their own discussion groups on the party’s new networking site http://act.libdems.org.uk/ - we hope this will prove a fruitful way for party members and supporters to feed in ideas to the policy development process. The FPC is very grateful for the contribution made by the chairs and members of working groups who voluntarily give a great deal of time to assist the Party’s policy development process.

Facing the Future The FPC has decided to undertake a major review of party policy after the general election in order to map out priorities in policy development for the next Parliament. This exercise, entitled Facing the Future , will hold an extended consultation session as a central feature of the Autumn 2010 Party Conference, and will bring its final report to Autumn 2011. The table below sets out the latest schedule of policy development work:

Conference Consultation Papers Policy Papers

March 2010 International Development Youth Localism

Autumn 2010 The Voluntary Sector Localism Facing the Future International Development Youth Justice

Spring 2011 Inequality and Social The Voluntary Sector Exclusion

Autumn 2011 Quality of Life Inequality and Social Exclusion Facing the Future

The Policy Panel Thanks to all those who have made themselves available for the panel, which now has well over 600 members. To improve communication and involve panel members more in policy work, we have a regular policy newsletter, Focus on Policy . This newsletter keeps members of the panel informed about new publications, new working groups and other initiatives, and includes articles from working group chairs, spokespeople, FPC members and the leadership team. It is our hope that, in future, panel members will have a much more active role in policy-making within the Party and that the policy process will benefit from their wealth of knowledge, expertise and experience. The FPC will be reviewing the functioning of the panel after the general election.

Regional Links To encourage policy debate across the party we have FPC representatives to take responsibility for promoting policy debate within each of the regions of England and to attend regional conferences where appropriate.

7 Region

Devon & Cornwall Theo Butt Philip

East of England Richard Grayson/Geoff Payne/Linda Jack

East Midlands Susan Gaszczak

London Jo Hayes/ Jeremy Hargreaves

Northern Robert Adamson

North West Stan Collins

South Central Neil Fawcett/Ruth Coleman

South East Susan Gaszczak

Western Counties Theo Butt Phillip

West Midlands Phil Bennion/Susan Juned

Yorkshire & the Humber William Wallace/Duncan Brack

The FPC has also decided to appoint representatives to Party SAOs:

SAO

ALDES Julie Smith

ALDC Susan Juned

DELGA Geoff Payne

WLD Ruth Coleman

Liberal Youth Theo Butt Phillip

PCA Susan Gaszczak

Liberal Democrat Lawyers Jonathan Marks

EMLD Linda Jack

Policy and Research Unit Staffing The Policy and Research Unit (PRU) combining the Adviser teams and the Policy Projects Team provides staff support for the FPC and its working groups. The Policy Projects Team consists of Christian Moon (Head of Policy), Debbie Enever (Policy Officer), and Louisa Latham (Policy Officer). Helen Banks (Policy Officer) is currently on maternity leave. The Policy Projects Team has also benefited from voluntary work by Ruby Peacock and Dan Murch.

8 The Advisers have been restructured into three teams each led by a Senior Adviser. The Economy, Environment and Business Team consists of Chris Saunders (Senior Adviser, Economy & Treasury), James Lloyd (Environment, Energy, Food & Rural Affairs), Katie Waring (Work & Pensions) and Andrew Keeling (Business and Skills). The team also currently includes Helen Dommett working on secondment from PWC on tax issues. The Security and Society Team consists of Ben Jones (Senior Adviser, International Affairs & Defence), James McGrory (Home Affairs and Justice) and Alice Aitken (DCMS). The Public Services and Localism team consists of Steve Lotinga (Senior Adviser, Health), Navprit Rai (Communities & Transport) and Sam Cannicott (Education). The Adviser team has benefited from voluntary work by: Ruth Gripper, Ally Kennedy, James Parry and Philip Jarvest. Verity Harding the Project Support Officer provides administrative, HR and project management support in the PRU. As ever, the FPC is much indebted to the Policy and Research Unit staff and volunteers for all their hard work in support of the FPC.

Nick Clegg MP Chair of Federal Policy Committee

9 Federal Executive

The Federal Executive is responsible for directing, co-ordinating and implementing the work of the Federal Party, including overall strategy, campaigning, organisation and staffing. The Federal Finance and Administration Committee (see below) and the Campaigns and Communications Committee both report to the FE. The FE has 29 voting members: the Party President (who chairs it) and three Vice Presidents, the Leader, two other MPs, one peer, one MEP, two councillors, three state party reps and fifteen members directly elected by conference reps.

Since our last report to Conference the FE has been hard at work. Firstly, I would like to thank Audrey Findlay for her sterling work as Convenor of the Scottish Party & Brian Orrell for his unceasing commitment as Chair of the English Party. Both Audrey & Brian have stepped down from their roles at the end of 2009 and I am sure Craig Harrow (Scottish Party Convenor) and Jonathan Davies (Chair of English Party) will prove valuable successors. Sadly two colleagues passed away shortly before Christmas. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Roy Thomson, who represented the Scottish Party on the FE, & Anna Werrin, who headed up Charles’ office during his time as Leader. Their legacy, within and outside the Party, will continue to live on and we are grateful for all they contributed during their time with us.

Leader’s Briefings Nick has continued to brief the FE on campaigns, manifesto development, the state of the party, Westminster politics & other topical issues. As the election draws closer we also receive regular updates on General Election planning.

Scrutiny The FE has carried out two major pieces of scrutiny on ICT development and on the work of ALDC. The FE discussed priorities, resources & future development with the Chair of ALDC & Chief Executive, whilst the new party website, members’ site, ACT, Leader’s site & mass email system were discussed with the Chief Executive. Scrutiny is now on hold until after the General Election. A part of each meeting of FE is devoted to scrutiny of a set of key performance indicators.

Codes of Conduct The FE has discussed the development of codes of conduct in both the Lords & the Commons. The Lords code of conduct is being incorporated as part of the oath of office and the Commons code of conduct is still awaiting the final conclusions of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

Party Reform Commission Last year the Reform Commission, chaired by Professor Chris Bones, reported back with its proposals on the actions required to meet the challenge laid down by Nick Clegg of doubling the number of our MPs. The recommendations were broadly welcomed by many and the professional staff of the party having been working hard to implement many of the proposals

10 for improvements this side of the General Election. Some proposals however are within the remit of state and regional parties and require consideration by them, whilst others cannot be implemented until after the election, for resource reasons. Chief Officers’ Group (COG) brings together all the key democratic decision-makers in our party to help plan our strategy and future. COG meets two weeks before each Federal Executive meeting and reports to it. Chaired by the Leader, questions on the work of COG can be put to him at each meeting of FE. The main work of COG has been to develop the Party business plan, to create and agree the budget, to receive reports and discuss election planning and to ensure that all of the key players in the Party decision making are kept informed of what each is doing. Part of each meeting of COG is spent receiving a briefing from the Leader on the key political topics of the moment. Three Party Boards, Capability, Fundraising and Technology, acting in an advisory capacity, allow us to harness the expertise of our membership in these key areas to assist our professional staff. The Audit & Compliance Board is an independent body which works with our external auditors on their annual audit, and looks at all significant donations. Our online presence has been overhauled with an exciting new website, improvement in email communications to our members and supporters, and the creation of the ‘ACT’ social network to help party members co-ordinate their activities and interests. We have also boosted our media, internal communications and policy and research teams so that they deliver an excellent product to our parliamentarians, candidates and the wider party allowing us to take the fight to our opponents across the airwaves. Our professional fundraising team is stronger than ever; setting and hitting ever more ambitious targets so that we can fund our biggest and best General Election campaign and give Nick and Vince the strongest possible platform to fight the General Election on.

GE Preparations The FE elected a new Chair for the Campaigns & Communications Committee in September. Willie Rennie was elected and has extended the committee to take in those who have particular experience of the ground & air wars to ensure we are using all the resources possible. Before Christmas the Campaigns Department sent out 3.2 million pieces of mail and the campaign work has continued a pace since then. The CCC has also discussed the recent mayoral elections and the Party’s role in them, as well as monitoring the development of EARS 9.

FE-Councillor Working Group The FE discussed the work of the FE-Councillor Working Group, reviewed by Kate Parminter & Chris White. The group reviewed the implementation of recommendations from the report, noting the changes and improvements following the recommendations.

Candidate Retention The FE is keen to ensure all candidates have the best experience in the run up to and beyond the election, so a review of candidate retention was commissioned. This has highlighted a number of issues to be looked at, work which is being co-ordinated by Margaret Joachim & Tim Farron.

11 The FE has also approved the Party Business Plan, which this year is being agreed by the state parties, and the 2010 budget. The FE has received regular reports from the International Relations Committee (IRC), from the Campaign for Gender Balance (CGB).

Ros Scott Party President January 2010

12 Federal Finance and Administration Committee

The Federal Finance and Administration Committee is responsible for planning and administering the budget and finances of the Federal Party, directing its administration and ensuring its compliance with the provisions of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. It is responsible to the FE, but normally also reports directly to the Federal Conference.

The FFAC has 14 voting members: the Chair (currently Duncan Greenland), Party Treasurer and five other members (all elected by the FE), the Party President, three state party reps, the Chief Executive and two other members of HQ and Parliamentary staff.

A) General Fund: 2009 results 1. At the start of 2009 the Federal Party had an overall accumulated deficit on its general fund of £246,000, of which £55,000 related to the deficit on the party’s final salary pension scheme (which closed in 1989) and £191,000 related to its normal operating activities. It also had separate designated reserves for specific purposes of £45,000. The draft figures for 2009 show a surplus on the federal party’s general fund of £33,000 against a budgeted deficit of £54,000, though this is after transfers to the specific reserves of £25,000. This means that the accumulated deficit on its normal activities will decrease from £191,000 to £158,000 and that the specific reserves will be £75,000 at the year-end. Given the volatile economic situation it is especially difficult to predict what will happen to the pension scheme deficit. The party continues to make additional contributions to eliminate the deficit but it is likely that factors beyond its control will make this a moving target. 2. The campaign fund is forecast to produce a deficit of approx. £400,000 reducing the accumulated surplus on the fund to around £250,000. The budgeted deficit for the year was £369,000. The somewhat larger than budgeted deficit needs to be seen in the context of a much higher level of activity with actual expenditure being around £2,250,000 against a budgeted figure of £1,900,000. 3. The draft out-turn figures for 2009 are attached as appendix 1 to this report. The final accounts will be presented to the autumn conference in Liverpool and will include details of the campaign fund. Overall net income was £94,000 (3.0%) above budget largely due to significantly better than expected direct mail appeals, net conference income and International department income. On the other hand expenditure was £6,000 (0.2%) above budget largely due to higher than budgeted costs of the Conference and International departments.

B) General Fund: 2010 budget Direct comparison of the 2009 to 2010 budgets is complicated by the budgeting in 2010 for the effects of the general election. On the income side resources will need to be diverted from the general fund resulting in lower direct mail and Lib Dem Calling income. On the expenditure side there will be a reduction in Lib Dem Calling costs and the budget assumes there will be no by-elections to fund resulting in lower target seat support expenditure. These reductions are partly off set by the need to increase resources in database management within the Membership department and higher staff & office costs in the Campaigns department.

13

The budgeted deficit for 2010 is almost the same as that budgeted for 2009 and is broadly equivalent to the additional payments needed to eliminate the deficit on the closed pension scheme. The General Fund budget is attached as appendix 1.

C) The Campaign Fund Budget This has been carefully calculated so that the remaining surplus after polling day for the general election is the minimum needed to maintain normal operations for the remainder of the year. Total income is budgeted to be around £4m, which is substantially higher than in any previous general election year. To achieve this the party will be very dependent upon the support of its major-gift donors. Although current indications are that they are responding well to the challenges facing the party in its attempts to match the other two main parties, the budget is constructed in such a way that expenditure can be tailored to the sums actually received. It is therefore anticipated that the overdraft facility will only be used for cash flow purposes and that there will be no long term debt remaining after polling day.

D) Grants to Party bodies

2010 budget (£) 2009 budget (£)

ALDC 100,837 107,207

LDYS 16,000 16,000

WLD 4,000 4,000

CGB 24,000 24,000

Diversity & Equality 20,000 20,000

EMLD 2,000 2,000

Total 166,837 173,207

The small reduction in the ALDC grant is part of a drive to increase ALDC income by encouraging all councillors to join the organisation through group membership. This work is being supported by the Federal Party and has been agreed with ALDC.

E) Staffing levels The size of departments in the Party Headquarters charged to the general fund at the end of the year was:

Department 31 December 2009 (FTE) 31 December 2008 (FTE)

Campaigns 8.00 7.90

Chief Executive, office 7.00 5.75 facilities & training

Compliance 1.50 1.50

Conference 4.00 4.00

14 Finance 3.00 3.00

International 2.00 2.00

Liberal Democrats Calling 5.50 5.25

Membership & fundraising 7.00 5.00

Newspaper 1.30 1.30

Policy* 5.00 5.00

Total 44.30 40.70

FTE = Full time equivalent established posts * The Federal Party purchases Policy development Services from the Policy & Research Unit of POLD at a cost equivalent to that of 5 posts. These figures should be compared with the average number of staff employed by Conservative Central Office in 2008 of 270 (2007 – 258) and Labour of 215 (2007 – 193).

F) PPERA Further changes to the legislation have now been implemented from January 1st 2010 in the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009. The representations the Federal Party made at Parliamentary and Civil Service level has led to the relaxation of the burden on Local Party Treasurers in particular. The main changes involve the minimum donation checking limit rising to £500, the public declaration limit for Local Parties rising to £1500 and to £7500 for the Federal Party. Many of the Commissions sanctioning powers will change from criminal to civil sanctions in July. Consolidated Local Party Accounts (including branches) for the 2009 calendar year that exceeded £17,500 should be approved by the Local Party Executive and submitted to Party Headquarters before 15th March in accordance with the accounting requirements of the Electoral Commission. The declarations of donations made to the party, statements of accounts submitted and the party’s campaign expenditure return are all made public and can be viewed on the Electoral Commission's website at http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/ Following investigations by the Electoral Commission of the £2.4m donation received from 5 th Avenue Partners Ltd during the 2005 General Election campaign they concluded in November 2010 that “5 th Avenue Partners meet the requirements to be a permissible donor”, and they will therefore “ be taking no further action in this case”.

G) Membership and Fundraising Services Building Membership: Party membership rose in 2009, reversing the previous downward trend, and is continuing to rise this year. Training and supporting material are being prepared to assist local parties in making the best use of the general election campaign for membership recruitment and renewal. Improving Communications with local parties, members & supporters: In the autumn of 2009 further functionality was added to the Membership Data On-line website used by local party membership officers. As well as providing improved reports, the site now allows users to amend and update local party records directly. This improves the efficiency of the

15 membership system and the accuracy of communication with members. A similar on-line tool for Treasurers is currently being prepared for release. November 2009 saw the launch of ACT, a new social network for members and supporters. ACT participants can organise groups, advertise events and upload pictures and videos. They can write their own blogs and participate in discussions within the groups. The aim is to build and mobilise a community of Liberal Democrat supporters that extends beyond the boundaries of traditional, formal party membership. In January 2010 the new members’ website was launched. This site is a major step forward in both content and design; replacing the previous single-page site with a wealth of content on party organisation, resources for members, skills and on-line campaign tools. Developing the party’s donor base: The changes made to the staff structure on major-gift fundraising have helped make a marked improvement in the financial support raised for the general election campaign. New donors have been attracted and many existing supporters have responded with increased support. Work to achieve even greater success is continuing. Although good progress has been made with new individual donors, more supporters are still needed to make the campaign a fair fight against the big business and trade union support of the other two parties.

H) Environmental Improving the environmental performance at the Party Headquarters continues to be a priority for the organisation. The Headquarters has focussed its priority on carbon reduction. A new system of benchmarking data has been put in place, which we will report to Conference in a year’s time when we have completed sufficient comparative data.

I) Personnel A significant number of new appointments have been made over the past nine months to strengthen the Party’s organisation ahead of the General Election, particularly in the fundraising, web and database management functions. Initiatives to improve good communications across POLD, Cowley Street and Parliamentary staff have been taken to assist preparations as staff teams are geared up. In this parliament significant improvements have been made to improve the joint management of POLD and Cowley Street staff, and plans are in place to strengthen and further review this after the General Election.

Duncan Greenland FFAC Chair January 2010

16 Appendix 1

2009 general fund budget and draft out-turn and 2010 general fund budget

Budget Forecast Budget 2009 2009 2010 Income £ £ £

Direct mail appeals & standing orders 360,000 449,000 406,000 LD Calling 249,000 253,500 165,000 Membership income (Federal levy) 786,032 793,000 827,029 Conference 1,080,700 1,145,500 1,005,500 Lib Dem News 145,000 138,000 140,000 POLD service fees 234,484 220,500 207,058 State parties cross charges 446,829 438,000 446,829 Policy Development Fund 457,000 453,000 457,000 International department income 50,000 72,500 75,000 Affinity income 38,500 39,000 39,500 Interest receivable 500 0 120 Other income 37,500 37,500 34,250 3,885,545 4,039,500 3,803,286

Cost of sales Direct mail costs (70,000) (70,000) (70,000) Conference (584,735) (642,500) (531,843) Lib Dem News (110,000) (112,500) (112,000) (764,735) (825,000) (714,843)

Income surplus after income generation costs 3,120,810 3,214,500 3,089,443

Expenditure

Departmental costs Campaigns 340,554 348,000 371,061 Chief Executive’s department 882,706 875,000 918,265 Compliance 55,323 56,000 55,680 Conference 142,400 153,000 147,251 Finance 136,885 134,000 135,665 International 68,221 75,500 74,989 LD Calling 169,000 166,500 139,000 Lib Dem News 37,676 39,500 38,029 Policy 201,108 200,500 194,608 Membership 248,933 247,000 323,521 2,247,806 2,261,000 2,398,069 Other expenditure PPBs 40,000 40,000 40,000 Target seat support 289,000 289,000 154,000 Candidates support 12,600 12,500 12,600 G8 70,000 70,000 70,000

17 ELDR/Li 34,000 36,500 37,000 Members communications 33,390 33,500 28,390 Committee expenses and President’s grant 17,000 16,500 24,000 Grants to party units 173,207 171,000 166,837 PDF grants to Scotland & Wales 35,000 35,000 45,000 Non-recoverable VAT 48,000 48,000 48,000 Other expenditure 85,600 79,500 72,150 872,797 865,500 697,977

Payments to reduce pension scheme deficit 54,600 54,500 47,500

Total expenditure 3,175,203 3,181,000 3,143,546

Surplus/(deficit) for the year (54,393) 33,500 (54,103)

18 Parliamentary Party (Commons)

Introduction We have been granted the rare opportunity of knowing that a General Election is coming, regardless of whether the Government wants one. I therefore thought that I would take the opportunity of my last ‘Report Back’ before a new Parliament to look back over the past five years. A lot has happened: we have seen a Labour Government say goodbye to their most successful Leader for generations and we have seen the Conservatives attempt to rise like the phoenix out of the flames.

2005 2005 saw an enlarged and enlivened new Parliamentary Party, with eleven new seats won at the May General Election. That triumph was shortly followed by the tragic death of Patsy Calton. None of us will forget Patsy’s vibrant contributions in the Commons and Mark Hunter’s subsequent triumph at the Cheadle by-election was the most appropriate tribute the party could offer. In 2005, sought to prevent the Government from introducing means testing for legal aid in criminal cases, and, despite Government opposition, David’s work introduced a proper appeals process, ensuring that vulnerable people received access to justice. 2005 also saw us lead the opposition to the proposals to detain terrorist suspects for 90 days without charge. Our determined opposition was crucial to ’s first defeat as Prime Minister and every single Lib Dem voted to defend our civil liberties.

2006 In 2006 was elected leader, taking over from . 2006 saw our Parliamentary Party grow even further following the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election winner, Willie Rennie, bringing our numbers up to 63. It was the first time Labour had lost a seat at a Westminster by-election in Scotland since 1988, and the first time Labour had ever lost to the Liberal Democrats, or their predecessors the Liberal Party, in a Scottish Westminster by-election. More worryingly for the Government, it was in the Prime Minister’s back yard. In 2006 the Labour party was rocked by the ‘cash for honours’ scandal. My colleagues worked hard to amend the Electoral Administration Bill so as to prevent foreign individuals or companies from donating to political parties. The other scandal, though not so widely publicised, was the Government’s attempt to secure powers to amend legislation without Parliament’s approval and without recourse. David Howarth led the campaign to prevent the ‘Abolition of Parliament’ (Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill) and succeeding by shaming the Government into removing the proposals.

2007 In late 2007 Nick Clegg took over the reins of leadership from Sir Menzies Campbell, Nick pledging to double the number of MPs in two elections. In 2007, Liberal Democrats led a number of successful campaigns. Vince Cable argued for the nationalisation of Northern Rock. Despite vehement opposition from the Conservatives and numerous u-turns by the Government, the bank was finally nationalised by a short Government Bill in November 2007. As Leader, Sir Menzies Campbell led the charge against changes in the Budget of April 2007 which scrapped the 10p tax rate and saw millions of low paid workers suffer in order to fund tax bonuses for the middle classes. By the summer of

19 that year the Conservatives had woken up to the issue and thanks to our pressure the Government were forced to bring forward expensive, insufficient and ‘decorative’ solutions to the problem. led a campaign against excess packaging which saw Easter egg displays change dramatically as manufacturers accepted the need to cut down. David Laws campaigned to protect prudent schools from having their funding allocated to schools that have gone over budget, eventually forcing the Government to climb down. David also fought to maintain hundreds of small and rural schools from closure following the Government’s disastrous ‘empty desk’ strategy – in 2008 they changed their tune, declaring that rural schools must be kept open as a “top priority”. For many, however, 2007 will be best remembered for that deadly comparison levelled by Vince Cable at Gordon Brown: “from Stalin to Mr Bean” . Vince’s deft footwork in the Chamber became an iconic caricature of Brown’s slide into the depths of unpopularity.

2008 2008 saw the European Union (Amendment) Bill make its passage through Parliament. , as Shadow Foreign Secretary, expertly guided the Bill through the Commons for us. He fought both the Labour and Conservative parties to attempt to secure an open debate on Britain’s future in Europe. Despite David Howarth’s expert procedural advice, and the use of rare parliamentary procedures our efforts were blocked by both Labour and the Tories, Ed was even ejected from the Commons by Speaker Martin for refusing to accept that there would be no debate on this important matter. 2008 also saw the Liberal Democrats leading the campaign to reduce carbon emissions, a cornerstone of the plan to tackle climate change. The Climate Change Bill began its life in 2007, with Labour proposing a minimal target of 60% reductions by the year 2050. Steve Webb, Martin Horwood and David Howarth argued that this did not go far enough. Combining force with Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Christian Aid, and many others, the Government finally backtracked in 2008, accepting a target of 80% by the year 2050.

2009 The political landscape in 2009 was dominated by one thing: MPs’ expenses. The Telegraph’s dogged commitment to revealing all the flippers, all the phantom mortgage- claims and all the excessive and unnecessary purchases made by MPs resulted in a bruising and shocking time for politics and politicians. The Labour and Conservative parties were exposed as corrupt and rotten as worsening revelations were published about the conduct of their Members. I am proud to restate that no Liberal Democrat MP flipped the designation of their second homes or created phantom mortgages to deliberately deceive – and make profit from – the public purse. 2009 saw Nick argue for the Iraq Inquiry to be held in public, conflicting with Gordon Brown’s desire to keep detail of Labour’s mistakes in the dark. Now, as I write, the Chilcot Inquiry has invited the Prime Minister to give evidence sometime before the General Election. Given that Gordon wrote the cheques and funded that disastrous war, it will be interesting to hear him try to diminish his role in the decision. 2009 was also a year of firsts. We had our first win on an opposition motion, with Chris Huhne leading the debate for Gurkha settlement rights. In order to draw a line during the expenses scandal, Nick was the first party leader to call for the resignation of Speaker Martin. Later, Nick became the first Leader to question the Government’s lack of a clear strategy for Afghanistan – Cameron limping in behind. And more recently, we’ve had the announcement of the first ever ‘Leaders Debates’ on television, where Nick will have the opportunity to expose both Cameron and Brown for being fake leaders, offering the same old fake change.

20 Departing colleagues It is only right that whilst looking forward to the next Parliament that I take a moment to acknowledge those of my colleagues who have decided not to seek re-election. I would like to propose a vote of thanks to John Barrett, Colin Breed, David Howarth, Paul Keetch, Mark Oaten, Matthew Taylor and . Each of them has made a unique contribution to the Parliamentary Party and each one leaves with their own memories of personal victories and collective achievements during their years in Parliament. I speak on behalf of all colleagues when I say we are grateful for their hard work, determination, solidarity and friendship over the years; and the Parliamentary Party will be all the poorer for their absence. I wish them well in all their future endeavours.

Conclusion In my report for the Spring Conference of 2008 I wrote, “It is likely that this is the last parliamentary session before a General Election” – how wrong I was! However, I can say now that this is definitely the last parliamentary session before the next General Election and I believe that this will be our most successful and critical election for a generation; 2010 is a game-changing year and we, as Liberal Democrats are ready to play. Never before has the party been so professional and optimistic. In Nick we have a confident and decisive Leader who is not afraid to take risks; Nick’s ability to read the political landscape is phenomenal and he is supported by the most able and committed MPs in the Commons. The General Election offers us a huge chance to increase our numbers and to prove that the Liberal Democrats are the only party who believe in a new kind of politics – fair, reformed and trusting of the people.

Paul Burstow Chief Whip February 2010

21 Parliamentary Party (Lords)

This report covers the period from our return to Parliament in October 2009 and the ‘overspill’ in the Autumn and the new session which started on 18 th November (Queen’s Speech) until the end of January 2010. It sets out our work on bills and debates with a note of media coverage.

Last session

Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill Joan Walmsley, Margaret Sharp, Sue Garden, Dominic Addington and Brian Cotter contributed to the debates on this bill. While we welcomed the efforts to boost the role of apprenticeships we are of the opinion that most of this bill is superfluous, only contributing further bureaucracy in the education system. In the Lords we were able to achieve significant changes and several concessions. Joan Walmsley was interviewed by the Times Educational Supplement which had an exclusive on the bill two weeks in a row.

Coroners and Justice Bill Martin Thomas led a large team to scrutinise this very large bill, which amongst other things significantly reformed the coroners system for the first time since the 1890s, proposed reforms to the law of murder, established a new Sentencing Council, and made changes to the laws on criminal memoirs and data protection. Sue Miller took the Government to task for continuing to allow secret inquests. John Alderdice was deeply involved in scrutinising the proposed coronial changes and was successful in gaining a number of significant concessions from the Government. Alex Carlile achieved a concession to address an anomaly in UK which has meant that we were unable to prosecute some people accused of genocide in Rwanda. Anthony Lester and supported an amendment to protect from prosecution those who travel with terminally ill relatives abroad to assist them commit suicide.

Veronica Linklater tabled amendments to strengthen the role of the new Sentencing Council and the Government also accepted an amendment from Navnit Dholakia to ensure that the members of the new sentencing council have experience in the rehabilitation of offenders. Sue Miller’s objection to secret inquiries made the front page of the Independent and Henry Porter in the Observer covered Tory peers’ abstention on the vote on the Lib Dem amendment to remove secret inquiries from the Bill. Martin Thomas’s comments on the “illogical” and “outstandingly obnoxious” sexual infidelity clause were covered by the Daily Mail and the Telegraph. He also went on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour to argue his position.

Marine and Coastal Access Bill Tony Greaves, , Sue Miller, Sally Hamwee, Jim Wallace, Richard Livsey, William Wallace and John Burnett took part in this bill, where several concessions were achieved. The Bill received Royal Assent in November and is now law.

Policing and Crime Bill Sue Miller , assisted by Navnit Dholakia, Bill Bradshaw, Joan Walmsley and Angie Harris led on this flagship Home Office bill, which deals with policing reform, prostitution, lap dancing clubs, alcohol disorder, gang injunctions, proceeds of crime, extradition, security at airports and DNA, where several important concessions were also achieved.

Welfare Reform Bill Celia Thomas, and Matthew Oakeshott took this bill through which became law in November 2009. They were successful in securing the following concessions (1) a verbal commitment that lone parents of children under 16 who are recipients of all forms of disability living allowance are not subject to sanctions for failure to undertake work related

22 activity, (2) a verbal commitment for guidance to registrars in cases of Joint Birth Registration where father approaches registrar before the mother who may not want the father to have parental responsibility and (3) three month exemption from job seeking conditions for victims of domestic violence.

This session

Bribery Bill Martin Thomas and Willie Goodhart are working on this Bill which reforms the criminal law of bribery by replacing the current common law offences with two new general offences of offering bribes to another person and being bribed. It also creates a specific offence of bribing a foreign official and a new offence where a commercial organisation fails to prevent bribery. They welcomed the Bill as being long overdue.

Child Poverty Bill Celia Thomas, Archy Kirkwood, Joan Walmsley and Emma Nicholson are taking part in this bill which provides a statutory basis for the commitment made by the Government in 1999 to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and which they largely supported

Cluster Munitions Bill Lindsay Northover, John Lee and Jenny Tonge are working on this bill which implements the UK's international obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions and which we very strongly support. The bill prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster munitions or cluster bombs.

Digital Economy Bill Tim Clement-Jones, Tim Razzall, Jane Bonham-Carter, Sue Miller, Brian Cotter and Roger Roberts are taking part in this bill. The most contentious element of the bill is to set up a process by which copyright owners can ask internet service providers to notify subscribers who continually download content illegally on the internet. Whilst the Lib Dems support the concerns of copyright owners who are finding that their work is effectively being stolen, we have tabled amendments that would ensure the copyright owners carry the costs of mandating the internet service providers given that the potential financial benefit of this process is greater for copyright owners as opposed to internet service providers. Tim Clement-Jones and Tim Razzall’s amendments to Government proposals to tackle illegal file-sharing gained lots of coverage on digital media and technology websites as did Lib Dem opposition to clause 17, the so-called ‘Henry VIII’ clause which allows the Secretary of State to change copyright law without further scrutiny or debate. Tim Clement-Jones also spoke to Radio 4’s ‘Today in Parliament’ programme about Clause 17.

Equality Bill This is a consolidation bill, taken for us by Anthony Lester, Jim Wallace and Lindsay Northover and Eric Avebury and which brings together nine major pieces of legislation and over one hundred statutory instruments. In particular, the bill aims to ban age discrimination in the provision of goods and services, increase transparency in the workplace with regards to pay and emboldens public bodies to take into consideration the diverse needs of their employees. Moreover, the Bill creates a positive duty on employers to make their organisations more representative as well as seeks to redress the outcome of the Malcolm judgment in terms of disability discrimination.

Northern Ireland Assembly Members Bill Trevor Smith and Angie Harris are working on this short Bill which gives the Northern Ireland Assembly the ability to establish an independent body to determine Members’ salaries and allowances, if it wishes.

We welcomed the Bill and we fully support it. However we have used the Bill as an opportunity to explore the ending of dual mandates, or “double-jobbing”.

23

Debates introduced by Liberal Democrats Tim Clement-Jones – reform of the pharmacy sector Archy Kirkwood – to regret the Flexible Deal regulations Celia Thomas – to regret the Social Security Miscellaneous Regulations Susan Thomas – school children and the media Tom McNally – the case for a fairer and more progressive tax system Paul Tyler – the case for further political and constitutional reform David Chidgey – conflict in Eastern Congo

Liberal Democrat Private Members’ bills Navnit Dholakia –Rehabilitation of Offenders Bill Robin Teverson – Consumer Emissions (Climate change) Bill Tim Clement-Jones –Live Music Bill – this bill proposed changes to the Government’s Licensing Act which would make it easier for musicians to perform live. An Equity/Musician’s Union demonstration that Tim spoke at was covered by Music Week and (Oct 2009). When the bill had its second reading Tim wrote an article for the Guardian Online ‘Comment is Free’ section, and was interviewed by Music Week and Blues in Britain magazine. ‘Today in Parliament’ on Radio 4 covered the debate as did the music press and many websites and organisations that support the proposals in the Bill.

Further press coverage

Armed Forces Voting Roger Roberts asked the Government what was being done to ensure that military personnel overseas were registered to vote and received their postal ballots in time to vote in a general election. The Independent, the Daily Post (North Wales) and the British Armed Forces Federation covered the story (Nov 2009).

Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) Dominic Addington’s oral question, followed by a letter, to the Minister asked what the Government planned to do to sort out the chaos following the Student Loans Company (SLC) taking over administration of the DSA, leaving thousands of disabled students without the funding they needed to undertake their course. The Guardian covered the issue in the newspaper and online (Nov 2009).

Matthew Oakeshott has been quoted on a variety of issues, particularly by the Sunday Times, on bankers’ bonuses, Royal Bank of Scotland, Fred Goodwin’s pension and new job, and both ’s and Lord Ashcroft’s non-dom status.

Tom McNally delighted political sketch writers by persuading Lord Mandelson of the necessity of commemorative mugs to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and by taking Lord Adonis to task over the lamentable state of the Brighton to Bedford train line (Jan 2010). He also did several interviews for BBC Parliament on the reform of the Lords Code of Conduct and Expenses (Oct/Nov 2009).

Paddy Ashdown has had lots of national and local press coverage on Afghanistan, and on his forthcoming role in the South-West ‘peninsula campaign’ (as it was dubbed) – a campaign which seemed to have begun after Eric Pickles waded into the fray, describing Paddy as “frail and confused”. The Sunday Times suggested that Eric’s comments were unwise, given Paddy’s background...

William Wallace was on the Today programme, BBC Scotland and Channel 4 News discussing cuts in Foreign Office counter-terrorism budgets for projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Jan 2010) after Tom McNally highlighted the Government’s apparent inconsistency

24 following a Prime Ministerial statement that the “crucible of terrorism” on the Pakistan- Afghanistan border remained the No. 1 threat to Western security.(Jan 2010).

Anthony Lester’s Defamation Bill (a work in progress) which aims to reform libel laws, in particular to reduce ‘libel tourism’, was praised in the New Statesman, the Sunday Times and the Guardian (Nov 2009). Anthony also wrote to the Times and asked a Parliamentary Question about the imprisonment in Libya of Jaballa Matar, a British citizen and prominent Libyan activist, which was covered by the Daily Mail and Guardian (Jan 2010).

We, as always, thank our Whips Office staff for their detailed and solid work in assisting peers. We were sorry to lose Tim Oliver and Jake Holland but welcome Matthew Hindle and Natasha Kirwan, who have joined the team.

David Shutt Lord Shutt of Greetland Chief Whip

25 Parliamentary Party (Europe)

The Lisbon Treaty came into force from 1 December 2009, ending years of debate about reforms intended to clarify procedures and make an enlarged European Union more effective, and perhaps draining some of the europhobic poison from political discussion in Britain. Credit must be paid to the work of Andrew Duff MEP, who has for many years been an instrumental figure in the process of securing reform. It remains to be seen exactly what difference full implementation of the treaty's provisions will make in practice to the role and functioning of the European Union, but appointment of two low profile figures, Herman Van Rompuy and Baroness Cathy Ashton, respectively as the first full time President of the European Council and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, confounded the expectations of the UK's eurosceptic press and confirmed that national governments are reluctant to sacrifice their status. The 5-year term of the European Commission was extended to allow the new arrangements to come into play, but a near life-expired executive was reluctant to take bold initiatives and this was reflected in the light legislative workload of the European Parliament during the autumn. After much debate about his political programme the Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, was confirmed in his post by MEPs in September, but it was not until January that the 26 Commissioner-designates each had to face 3-hours of questioning by MEPs charged with assessing their competence, independence and European commitment. Many emerged from the scrutiny process with flying colours, having demonstrated great ability. Others were approved with less enthusiasm, and one candidate withdrew when it became clear that the Parliament would not endorse a Commission that included her amongst its numbers. Eight of the Commissioners now in place are from the Liberal family, two more than the number affiliated to the Socialist cause. Under the leadership of former Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, the 84-strong Liberal Democrat (ALDE) group has maintained its role as kingmaker within a 'balanced' Parliament in which the largest (right-of-centre EPP) political group holds only 36% of the 736 seats. An analysis of votes recorded since the elections demonstrated that the Liberal Democrats were on the winning side on 90.7% occasions, more than any other group. With the agenda relatively light it may be invidious to point to the achievements of individual MEPs, but mention should be made of LDEPP Leader Fiona Hall's work in saving the familiar A-G energy label attached to white goods despite opposition from manufacturers and the Commission, Diana Wallis's key role as a Vice President of the Parliament in promoting transparency by negotiating agreement between the three EU institutions to place details of all legislative activities on a common website, and the success of Liz Lynne's campaign for legislative measures that will help prevent needlestick injuries to healthcare workers across Europe. Reference was made in the Whip's Report to the September Conference of the various positions now held by LDEPP members within the Parliament and of the portfolios they hold. Since then, Graham Watson has been appointed to chair the parliamentary delegation for relations with India, while George Lyon is to draft the Parliament's position on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. , as chairperson of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, has been at the heart of discussions over measures intended to fix the financial system. The European Union's leadership in the fight against climate change has been welcomed and praised in recent years. Reference must therefore be made to the very disappointing outcome of the UNFCCC conference at Copenhagen. The EU failed to achieve the goals it had set itself and found itself marginalised, calling into question its negotiating tactics. Although its own strategy to combat global warming has since been reaffirmed momentum has been lost, ambitions have not been raised, and the path towards achieving international agreement is unclear.

Chris Davies MEP

26 Campaign for Gender Balance

The Campaign for Gender Balance was established by the Federal Executive in response to the conference debate on gender balance in September 2001. Its role is to achieve the targets agreed by conference for increases both in the number of women on the list of approved candidates, and in the number of women candidates fighting target seats. It implements a range of training, mentoring and support activities for women standing, and considering standing, for parliament. Dinti Batstone is currently the Acting Chair, whilst Rosalyn Gordon is on maternity leave.

Current approval / selection figures (as of 5 th January 2010): 564 approved, 144 women: 26% women 439 selected, 82 women: 19% women (MP reselections not included) 8 held seat selections in current electoral cycle, 4 women selected: 50% women

As predicted in the CGB report to Conference in Spring 2007, there has been a drop in the percentage of selected PPCs due to the still relatively low percentage of female approved candidates. However, we are pleased to report that the Campaign anticipates achieving the two objectives put in place in 2005, which include the numbers of women approved and elected to Parliament.

Increasing the number of women on the list of approved parliamentary candidates continues to be a key focus for the Campaign. CGB has found that the best way to build up our numbers of good quality female approved candidates is by: - talent-spotting and inspiring women to get involved - offering training events to build up skills - providing a network of contacts - mentoring women to get approved.

We are also currently focused on identifying potential candidates for target seat selections, and ensuring that they are fully prepared when the approval and selection processes begin again after the General Election.

The following information highlights some of the key activities we have undertaken since the last report to Conference in order to achieve our objectives:

Objective 1 : 150 extra approved women candidates by the next GE

• New women - 123 new women on approved list since 2005 General Election. • Mentoring scheme provides support for women going through the approval process, with 16 women linked with CGB mentors since the last report to Conference • Mailings to 1300 new female party members in January to encourage them to think about getting more involved in the Party, particularly during the General Election. • Outreach and support for all women who have requested application forms to offer help and encouragement.

Objective 2 : 40% of our new MPs to be women after the next GE

• Winnable Seats - Approximately 40% of our most winnable seats have women PPCs. • Held seat selections - all women applying for recent held seat selections (Edinburgh West and Cambridge) have been offered full support by CGB, and 4 out of the 8 seats that have MPs standing down have selected women • Mentoring for selection – all women applying for selection have been offered support by CGB mentors

27 • The ‘Women Working for Women’ campaign is being jointly led by CGB and Women Liberal Democrats for the General Election. It proactively promotes action days run by women PPCs, and encourages potential candidates to get involved in campaigning. As part of this project, targeted support days are also being organised for women MPs and candidates in target seats. This is being done on a Regional basis with a CGB/ WLD co-ordinator leading in each Region.

Additional projects/activity

• A full training programme at Federal Conferences has been held in support of both above objectives. • ‘Setting your Objectives for the General Election and Beyond’ training day will be held on 6th February, providing strategic advice and guidance for women who want to gain experience and stand in target seats next time round • The Campaign closely monitors information regarding approval and selection figures, to gain an accurate picture of the gender balance within the Party. • The Campaign actively participates in the Party’s Diversity Engagement Group • We are planning to conduct survey of approved women candidates who are not standing this May in order to identify reasons for non-participation. • A CGB Open Meeting are held bi-annually to update supporters and encourage input and consultation on future activities. • An e-mail newsletter is sent out every month to 765 subscribers which includes details of training events, relevant news items and new PPC adverts. • Fundraising events and donations raised £12,216 for Campaign activities in 2009. • Publications - We submit articles and features to various internal and external publications to encourage women to attend our events and consider candidacy • Website - The Campaign website ( www.genderbalance.org.uk ) and Facebook site are also regularly updated with relevant news and features. • The CGB online ‘Resource Centre’ provides an additional source of advice and support, containing downloadable documents that may be useful to candidates, such as sample manifestos, hustings speeches and tips on becoming a PPC.

Sincere thanks to our Vice-Chair, Jane Bonham-Carter, Candy Piercy, who is Head of Training for the Campaign; all our mentors, trainers and volunteers who generously give their time in support of the Campaign; to Vicky Booth, our Campaign Coordinator, and Sherin Malick, our volunteer assistant. We look forward to welcoming back the Chair of the Campaign, Rosalyn Gordon, when she returns from maternity leave, and meanwhile offer warmest congratulations to her and her husband John on the birth of their son Alex in December.

Dinti Batstone Acting Chair, Campaign for Gender Balance January 2010

28 Diversity Engagement Group Report

The Federal Executive Committee meeting of 17 March 2008 agreed to accept the strategy document presented by the National Diversity Adviser: ‘Meeting the Diversity Challenge – From Barriers to Benefits’. In addition, the Executive also agreed to set up the Diversity Engagement Group (DEG) to oversee achievement of the Party’s equality and diversity priorities. This initiative was to involve nominated ‘Champions’ from all sections of the Party in leading the new strategic and accountable body responsible for every aspect of delivering our diversity agenda and for reporting back to FE.

Progress to Spring 2010:

National Diversity Unit

There is now a dedicated unit based at Cowley Street HQ which is responsible for coordinating and promoting diversity initiatives across the Party. The Unit consists of Issan Ghazni, as National Diversity Adviser, Vicky Booth, as National Diversity Officer, and Diana Yeboah as Press Officer for BME and Specialist Media.

New Generation Group

The New Generation Group is a mentoring and training initiative that provides targeted support for up and coming BME party activists. Since its launch last year the group has grown to over 60 members. All members are now able to access tailored training on how to develop their campaigning and organisational skills, raise their profiles and promote their political careers.

• The group includes 17 current BME Parliamentary candidates, 18 councillors, and 6 women who are participating in the Operation Black Vote BME councillor shadowing scheme • Two members of the New Generation have recently been selected as candidates - Phillip Ling in Bromsgrove and Joseph Lee in Greenwich and Woolwich • A media training day was held in November with 14 participants, to help develop media engagement skills, and encourage participants to become media spokespeople for the Party • Held a successful ‘New Years Reception’ for all members on January 25th attended by Nick Clegg, Chris Fox, Ros Scott, Navnit Dholakia and a whole host of Parliamentarians and representatives from the BME media. • Delivered a successful training day on 6th Feb on 'Developing a Strategy for your Political Career' , focused on those who want to become target seat candidates after the next election. • Are now promoting opportunities for those within the New Generation Group to shadow current Parliamentary Candidates through the GE • Increased opportunities for members to gain further media exposure by increasing the profile of our current BME activists and improving our media coverage in specialist media outlets.

29 Regional Diversity Champions

Regional Diversity Champions are currently being appointed by each region and will work in partnership with the National Diversity Unit to encourage, promote and support initiatives, the diversity of the local parties and candidates in the region.

• All regions have just received a letter from Nick Clegg to impress upon them the importance of promoting diversity work and identifying talent • The Unit will provide advice, mentoring, training and on-going support for all Diversity Champions, and work in partnership with them to provide support to Party members from under-represented groups. This will specifically focus on those who wish to become representatives of the Party • London is a particular example of good practice – we now have 8 champions for race, faith, disability, gender, age, lesbian, gay, transgender • The Unit is currently developing a guidance toolkit and training event specifically for all Champions

Supporting current BME candidates

• Regular and on-going targeted support is being provided to BME candidates in target and moving forward seats where we see opportunities for success at this next general election and beyond

• Both the Leaders Office and the National Diversity Unit are working hard to identify BME talent across the Party, speaking with regional campaigns organisers and in identifying candidates / seats with potential for gains at the next General Election.

Campaign for Gender Balance

• The Campaign for Gender Balance continues its programme of training, mentoring and support for potential women candidates. • The main focus leading up to the General Election is to support current women PPCs and ensure that potential candidates gain valuable campaigning experience during this time. • The full report to Conference gives further details of the Campaign’s recent activities.

LDDA Review – update

• The Liberal Democrat Disability Association (LDDA) Review Group has now completed a comprehensive organisational review and has put forward its recommendations for further action by the Party in a report to the Diversity Engagement Group (DEG). • This review was led by Abigail Locke, Brian Orrell and Robert Adamson and supported by the Diversity Unit.

A reception for all Diversity Engagement Group members will be held at the 2010 Spring Conference in Birmingham.

Dr Vince Cable MP Chair – Diversity Engagement Group January 2010

30 Approval & Selection Diversity Update

Approved Candidates

Gender

State Approved candidates Men Women % Women England 812 617 195 24.0% Scotland 98 73 25 25.5% Wales 61 43 18 29.5% Total 971 733 238 24.5%

Ethnicity

We have the following monitoring information for approximately 92% of approved candidates in England – although we have doubled the amount of monitoring information available for Welsh and Scottish Candidates – to 26% in Wales and 24% in Scotland – it is still not statistically relevant to present this information in this format.

Not supplied Asian Asian Mixed White White White Other Indian Pakistani British Irish other 69 (8.5%) 13 17 18 639 14 23 19 % total of the number 1.8% 2.3% 2.4% 86% 1.9% 3.1% 2.6% supplied (743)

Religion

We have the following information for approximately 88% of approved candidates in England – although we have doubled the amount of monitoring information available for Welsh and Scottish Candidates – to 23% in Wales and 26% in Scotland – it is still not statistically relevant to present this information in this format.

Not supplied Christian Jewish Muslim None Other 87 (10.7%) 405 10 26 257 27 % total of the number supplied 55.9% 1.4% 3.6% 35.5% 3.7% (725)

31 Selected Candidates (not including MPs)

Gender

State Selected candidates Men Women % women England 391 311 80 20.5% Scotland 27 20 7 25.9% Wales 14 12 2 14.3% Total 432 343 89 20.6%

Ethnicity

The following information is available for 93% of selected candidates in England – as yet this information is only available for 14% of Welsh candidates and 22% of Scottish candidates so it is not statistically relevant at this stage.

Asian White White Not supplied Other Pakistani British other 29(7.4%) 12 313 15 22 % total of the number supplied (362) 3.3% 86.5% 4.1% 6.1% % total of the number selected (391) 3.1% 80.1% 3.8% 5.6%

Religion

The following information is available for 90% of selected candidates in England - as yet this information is only available for 14% of Welsh candidates and 26% of Scottish candidates so it is not statistically relevant at this stage.

Not supplied Christian Muslim None Other 39 (10%) 198 17 120 17 % total of the number supplied (352) 56.2% 4.8% 34.1% 4.8% % total of the number selected (391) 50.6% 4.4% 30.7% 4.3%

Please note – these figures are only correct as of the 3 rd February 2010, as figures change with every assessment centre and Local Party selection.

Tamsin Hewett Head of the English Candidates’ Office 3 February 2010

32